In a review of by-election abuses against her
party, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi stated clearly that the upcoming
Burmese election has not been free and fair, as she spoke during a press
conference at her home on Friday. However, she said the NLD party would press
ahead and the election was "significant."
“I
don't think we can consider it a genuine free and fair election if we consider
what has been happening here over the last few months,” she said, her face
showing signs of strain from the brutal campaign she has carried across the
country, in spite of obstacles thrown up by government officials and others.
“I've
not been well recently, and I'm feeling a little delicate so any difficult
questions and I shall faint straight away,” she joked to the hundreds of
journalists and diplomats on the ground of her lakeside home.
Obstacles
encountered by the National League for Democracy (NLD) are “really beyond
what's acceptable in a democratic election,” she said. “Still, we are determined
to go forward because this is what our people want.”
“For
any election to be considered free, fair and just, the entire process must be
free and fair from the beginning right through to the end. The voting day
itself is not sufficient indicator,” said Suu Kyi.
Her
assessment of the fairness of the overall by-election process will likely
prevent or stretch out the removal of sanctions by many international
countries.
Suu
Kyi, 66, said campaigning by political parties and the new act of casting a
vote were increasing people's interest in politics.
“It is
the rising political awareness of our people that we regard as our greatest
triumph,” she said. “We don't at all regret having taken part.”
Suu Kyi
has transferred waves of nationalistic energy across the country, speaking to
huge crowds about the role of citizens in a democracy, the importance of voting
and the rule of law.
She
said she had no plan to accept a position as a minister in the newly formed
government, if offered a role, because under the Constitution she would be
required to give up her seat in Parliament.
“I have
no intention of leaving the Parliament to which I have tried so hard to get
into,” she said.
Listing
election abuses it has encounter, she described “unfair treatment” by the
authorities ahead of Sunday's vote.
The NLD
said people in one village were forced by the ruling Union Solidarity and
Development Party (USDP) to attend one of its meetings.
In the
constituency of Kawhmu near Rangoon, where Suu Kyi is standing, the names of
hundreds of dead people were found on the electoral roll, while more than 1,300
valid voters were left off. Other incidents of tainted rolls were found across
the country, she said, and efforts to correct the errors came too late because
of government regulations and deadlines. In addition, her campaign was
repeatedly denied access to venues it requested.
Recently,
President Thein Sein said there had been “unnecessary errors” in ballot lists,
but said the authorities were trying to ensure the by-elections would be free
and fair.
Since
taking office a year ago, Thein Sein has carried out reforms including
releasing hundreds of political prisoners, easing minor media restrictions and
welcoming the opposition back into mainstream politics.
Unlike
in the 2010 election, the government has invited foreign observers and
journalists to observe the vote, but it waited to the last minute to make the
offer, preventing any direct experience of
campaign irregularities.
The
number of seats at stake in Sunday's vote is not enough to threaten the ruling
party's overwhelming majority in Parliament.
Suu Kyi
said the by-election was “a step towards step one in democracy.”
She
added: “Our opinion is that once we get into Parliament we will be able to work
towards genuine democratization.”
Mizzima
News
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